5 Ways to Green Your Garden
Gardening is about getting closer to nature—getting your hands dirty, growing your own vegetables, and enjoying everything nature has to offer. So why not go green? Here are five ways to make your garden more environmentally friendly.
1. Reuse and recycle your pots
Most plants are sold in plastic containers, although the horticultural industry is working hard to change this. However, many of the containers are now made of recycled material and can also be recycled. Check the bottom of your pot: nearly all plastic containers and packaging that are labelled with the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 7 can be recycled. You can also reuse them in your home! Personally, I wash and disinfect all my pots with rubbing alcohol and reuse them for seeding. It’s also a great way to save money!
2. Harvest rainwater
Collecting rainwater for watering your plants may seem complicated, but once you start doing it, you’ll never go back! Rainwater is better than tap water for most green house plants because it contains fewer minerals, which in turn don’t build up as much on your pots. Installing a barrel at a gutter downspout is an easy first step on the road to harvesting rainwater.
3. Plant biodiversity
The more diverse your garden, the more you promote biodiversity. Plant trees, shrubs, perennials, annual flowers and native plants in your flower beds and even in your vegetable garden. Consider adding pollinator-friendly flowers from April to October. In the spring, plant spring-blooming bulbs like crocuses and chionodoxa or shrubs like forsythias that flower before they have leaves. In the fall, bees love snacking on sedums and chrysanthemums just before wintering. Plus, a diverse garden will attract fewer harmful insects. So, in addition to being beautiful, this type of arrangement will help you naturally fight garden pests.
4. Make your own compost
You’re probably thinking that making your own compost will take a long time, smell terrible, and attract bugs... So I suggest taking it one step at a time. Start by mixing your coffee grounds into the soil of your flower beds and spreading it out. This way, you’re adding organic matter that blends right in! In the fall, chop up your leaves and spread them over your flower beds instead of putting them out for collection. Do you have an aquarium? Great! Next time you change the water, use the old water for your plants, as it’s full of minerals. These little things make a big difference. Start small and you’ll soon get the hang of it!
5. Buy your flowers from a local producer
Your IGA dealers offer a wide variety of flowers, herbs and vegetable plants grown right here in Quebec—often in your region! When you buy from these growers, you’re not only supporting a local company, but your flowers will also have a lower carbon footprint, since they didn’t have to travel as far to reach you.
The environment is everyone’s business, starting right at home in your own garden. At the end of the day, there’s nothing greener than growing your own flowers and vegetables!
Happy Earth Day!
